LAKE POWELL!!!!

First of all, I would like to make the note that I am aware of the frequency of exclamation points in the titles of my blog entries. This is because I do so many FABULOUS things, and they warrant some excitement. This probably hasn't even been noticed by any of you, but it was bugging me the other day when I was reviewing my blog. (I've had a lot of extra time at work.)

Anyway, on to my vacation.

This vacation was one of the most spontaneous things I think I have ever done. It was also a turning point for me this summer and came about by divine intervention. I know you're probably thinking that Heavenly Father really isn't that interested in my vacations, but I promise you, Jen was inspired when she invited me to come.

This was a particularly unpleasant summer. I'm sure you all know that I lost my job (again) at the end of 2010. This was the second time I had been laid off at Marketstar, and I'm pretty confident it will be the last. 2010 all together wasn't a good year due to health and work so I was more than happy to say good-bye to it and my job. This meant of course that I had to start job hunting. I hit the ground running. I took Dad's employment class, went to the networking sessions held at various Employment Centers, tried networking, all to no avail. For the first several months, I was fine with things. Yes, it's discouraging to get rejection letters, but I told myself that I had plenty of time and the right job was going to come along. Well, the months kept speeding past, and I kept having no interviews, no call backs, no nothing. It started getting depressing. It's very, very hard to be unemployed. I'm just going to go ahead and throw that out for any of you readers who have never had to experience it, or think that I'm unaffected by my situation. Neither is true. As the summer got closer and then started to pass, I got more and more depressed. In fact, this was one of the lowest points I've had in a long time. I was so discouraged and so low.

Then one day in July, I was on my way home from Networking in Layton. It had been a particularly un-fruitful session and I was actually crying as I drove home. Then my phone rang and it was Jen Summers. For those of you who don't know, Jen is a lady in our ward that I've become good friends with. She's the one who invited me to the U2 360 concert (which was INCREDIBLE) and have actually discovered that Josh (her husband) and I are 2nd cousins. So we're family! Anyway, Jen was calling with a proposition. She said that her family was leaving in two days for their week-long vacation at Lake Powell. Her family owned time on a houseboat and they just found out that they had some extra room. She and Josh thought of me and knew I would be a fabulous addition to any vacation (okay, I might have embellished that point just a bit.) It was short notice, but if I was available, they'd love to have me along.

WAS I AVAILABLE?!?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!? Actually, we already had tickets to the Pioneer concert with Brian Stokes Mitchell (LOVE HIM) and tickets to the Pioneer Days Rodeo (I look forward to that every year) so I did have to ask Mom and Dad what they thought. Well, they both gave me the "you're not going to pass up this opportunity" look and I called Jen back to accept the invite.

This was by far one of the funnest things I've ever done. I'm still trying to figure out how we could go there as a family, but unless one of us decides to invest in a speedboat, I'm not sure it would work. Anyway, now that you've taken the time to read through all my nonsense, here are the pictures you've been waiting for.

Our boat was named "Knot-2-Worry" There were some pretty funny boat names at our docks. Of course, now I can't remember any of them. :)
This was my sleeping quarters. You can't tell very well, but it was pretty shallow. In fact, not only could I not stand up, I couldn't even sit up all the way without hitting my head. I did end up sustaining an injury. The first morning, I got dressed and was trying to get out to go upstairs and I scraped the mole I had on my back. It hurt SO BAD! It was the first day, so I didn't know anyone real well yet, so I quietly checked for blood and tried to get cleaned up. I also had to wash little spots of blood off Scott's boat periodically through the day. Then the last morning we were there, I did it again, only this time...much worse. I ripped the sucker almost completely off. Well, this time I did know people very well, so I had Josh mop the blood off my back and fit me up with a bandaid. I still have an awesome tan line on my back from the bandaid. :)
There was one "down"side to our trip. The engine in the boat had gone out a few weeks earlier so we had to stay in dock. Usually you get on the boat, take it out to some secluded cove and camp out there. This trip, all our excursions were by speedboat and apparently took longer to get to the "good spots." We'd pack the small boat in the morning and head out to explore. I was told a few times that this put a damper on things, but considering that I had nothing to compare it against - I was just glad for the air conditioning. We got to leave the swamp cooler on and I got to sleep inside. That was good enough for me.
Josh and Jen had the bunk across from mine. They had a little more room, but I guess since there were two of them...

This was my designated seat for the whole trip. I think I sat somewhere else in the boat about twice. I just loved being in front and it was the perfect length for my legs. I would even sleep here when we were on our way home. I'm pretty sure if I can fall asleep while going 40 in a speedboat, I don't get seasick. I am happy to report that I only wore a bandanna the first day. After that, I just let my hair get sun-bleached.

This was one of the cove, river things we went up one morning. It was so beautiful. The others hiked up to some Indian ruins (that's where this picture was taken) but it was a pretty steep hike so I gave my shoes to Josh and went swimming. I was in that bunch of trees. It was weird to swim there because the water was very high last summer from all the snow. This meant that there were all sorts of trees and other assorted things underwater. Well, I don't know if you've ever swam over a tree, but it's easy to convince yourself that the branch hitting your leg is a snake. :)

Here's Jen. She spent most of the time upfront with me, but every once in a while would get wimpy and sit in the back in the shade. :)

The first night we were there, Scott took us out to sight-see. I don't think Josh saw much.
I think my favorite part of the entire trip was the day we went swimming in a slot canyon. This was the first time I have ever experienced a slot canyon and I'm confident that swimming was the way to go. It got really narrow at points, a few times we had to duck underwater and I'm pretty sure if my feet and head had both been touching rock, I would have gotten severely claustrophobic. But this way I was able to convince myself that I had plenty of room.
I didn't realize how many arches there would be. It was pretty impressive.

This is Pat Nelson. She's Jen's mom and one of the people gracious enough to let me crash the family party.

Scott Nelson, Jen's Dad. It was his speedboat.
But he did let Josh drive...once.
More gorgeous scenery.
I was even convinced to go tubing one afternoon. After my ill-fated YSA activity up at Pineview Dam, I had promised myself that NEVER AGAIN, would I get on a tube and be dragged behind a boat.
I am way too easy to talk into things.
Those are my legs on the left. This time was more fun than Pineview, but I'd still prefer to be on the boat. I kept getting big facefuls of water from Jen's tube. So finally we held on to each other and it was more fun after that.
This is "Hole in the Rock". It's crazy to think that anyone successfully took wagons down this slot. I came home and re-read "Undaunted" by Gerald Lund. Great book by the way, definitely recommend it.



This picture here is my absolute favorite. For me it sums up the whole week. I was so happy and so relaxed. And my toenail polish was fabulous.
Thanks again to the Summers and Nelsons for having me along. It was such an awesome vacation and so much fun. I was able to relax and since it wasn't my family, I didn't even worry about keeping all parties happy. I just read a book and watched the drama from a distance. :) Just kidding. It was also fantastic getting to know Jen and Josh better. Nothing says "bonding" like spending a week on a boat and "bathing" in Lake Powell.